11 JUL 2022

With New ICE Guidelines, Biden Continues to Promote Family Unity in Our Immigration System 

WASHINGTON, DC - Today, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued new guidelines to ensure that children and incapacitated adults may remain with their parents and caretakers while in removal proceedings. This includes efforts to quickly identify parents during enforcement actions, protect the parental rights of non-citizen parents and those caring for people with disabilities as well as ensuring that children have access to their detained parents. The administration also announced that deported parents may return to the U.S. through parole in cases where the parent’s participation in a family custody hearing is required. 

Sergio Gonzales, Executive Director of the Immigration Hub, issued the following statement:

“From day one, the Biden-Harris administration has worked to transform the cruel and arbitrary enforcement priorities imposed under Trump. Today’s policy is another step toward a more humane immigration system that keeps families together and prevents the separation of children, including U.S. citizens, from their parents during detention and removal. As Republicans in Congress and currently running for office continue to campaign on building a wall, maintaining cruel policies that tear families apart, and ending valuable and essential programs, such as DACA, the Biden administration is moving forward to ensure that the family separations that we witnessed before never happen again. The stakes are high this year — there is no room to return to an ugly and egregious system where the safety and livelihoods of immigrant families are jeopardized. Simply put, President Biden has made the right move.” 

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The Immigration Hub is a national organization dedicated to advancing fair and just immigration policies through strategic leadership, innovative communications strategies, legislative advocacy and collaborative partnerships.